MANILA, Philippines — Politicians must not take part in the distribution of cash aid under the programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said on Sunday.
“When it comes to the actual distribution of money, politicians should make an exit so they won’t give the impression that the money comes from them, and it should also be prohibited for politicians or their staff to be involved [in it],” the senator said in Filipino in a dzBB interview.
Pimentel explained that while politicians are invited to speak during distribution ceremonies for the financial assistance programs under the DSWD, the elected leaders should leave the site when cash begins to be doled out.
“During the actual distribution, politicians should leave the place,” he stressed.
Pimentel noted that instead of the elected leaders, the DSWD, the Department for Labor and Employment, or the Senior Citizen Commission should facilitate the distribution of aid.
Some of DSWD’s financial assistance programs for the poor include the Pantawid sa Pamilyang Pilipino Programs (4Ps), Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICs), Medical Assistance for Indigent Individuals (MAIP), and more recently, the Ayuda sa Kapos sa Kita Program (AKAP).
AKAP recently came under fire for allegedly being used to persuade its beneficiaries to sign for the amendment of the 1987 Constitution via people’s initiative following the “mysterious” insertion of P26.7 billion for the program under this year’s national budget.
Review the ‘ayuda’ programs
In light of issues arising from the DSWD’s poverty alleviation programs, Pimentel said that such programs must undergo a review to ensure that they are actually benefiting the “poorest of the poor.”
“There should be rationalization so that more people can be given assistance,” the senator said in the same interview.
“There are leakages, and it seems like we want to do too much without uplifting the poorest of the poor. We should concentrate on the beneficiaries of 4Ps […] the poorest of the poor,” he added.
He likewise said that there are plenty of cash assistance programs under the DSWD but such programs may have failed to achieve the goal of poverty alleviation.
This is because the budget for the financial aid programs keeps increasing each year which, according to the senator, implies that more and more Filipinos are becoming poor.